Jeff Brazier – The Santa whose lap we all want to sit on!


Photo: Sonja Horsman

This year we want to sit on Santa’s lap more than ever, because this year Santa is cutie Jeff Brazier.

Argos is opening the UK’s first Santa’s Grotto just for mums. Following new research that reveals nearly a quarter of mums (around 1.7 million*) buy and wrap their own presents from their children and/or partner to give them on Christmas Day, the retailer is creating its own version of the tradition normally reserved for kids, complete with a special celebrity Santa.

The survey, conducted by Argos and YouGov, also revealed that 31% of mums start preparing for Christmas before October and more than half (56%) of mums buy between 11 and 50 presents in total at Christmas, while 67% receive 10 or less in return. Nearly one in five mums (19%) spends more than 24 hours in total shopping for Christmas presents, so it’s no wonder then that 48% say they find Christmas shopping a tiring experience.

In recognition of all of their hard work Argos is opening the Mums’ Grotto for one day in central London on Saturday 26 November. Visitors to the Grotto will be able to meet special ‘celebrity Santa’, TV presenter and mums’ favourite Jeff Brazier, who will be asking the mums what’s on their Christmas lists. As well as meeting ‘Santa’ the mums will be able to indulge in pampering treats, including massages and mini-makeovers, enjoy a glass of bubbly and go away with a special gift from Argos**.

Jeff Brazier says: “It’s nice to be able to celebrate mums at a time of year that can be very focused on children. I’m looking forward to being able to treat some of the mums who spend months preparing to make Christmas a magical time for their families.”

Carl Nield, Brand Development Manager at Argos says: “Mums can be the unsung heroes of Christmas so we wanted to do something to recognise their efforts. We hope to make them smile on Saturday with some presents from our Christmas gift guide and pampering treats from our range of health and beauty products.”

Nield continues: “We make Christmas shopping as easy as possible for mums allowing them to Check & Reserve online and pick up all their presents on the same day from over 750 stores.”

The Argos Mums’ Grotto will be open from 9.30am to 4.00pm on Saturday 26 November at 7 Berners Mews, London W1T 3AN. For priority entry, mums can Tweet @Argos_Online #mumsgrotto and let us know what would be the ultimate treat for them this Christmas.

*Statistic derived from Office of National Statistics 2010 – estimated number of women in the UK (all ages) with at least one dependent child living in the household = 7.479 million women. Notes – this estimate comes from the Labour Force Survey, Quarter 2 2010.Survey estimates are subject to a margin of sampling variation. Dependent children are defined as those living with their parent(s) and either (a) aged 19 or over or (b) aged 16-18 in full-time education, excluding those aged 16-18 who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household.
Gifts for the first 100 mums only.